Raphael

Raphael, in the Bible, one of the archangels. In the apocryphalOld Testament (Hebrew Bible) Book of Tobit, he is the one who, in human disguise and under the name of Azarias (“Yahweh helps”), accompanied Tobias in his adventurous journey and conquered the demon Asmodeus. He is said (Tobit 12:15) to be “one of the seven holy angels [archangels] who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One.” In the pseudepigraphalFirst Book of Enoch, Raphael is “the angel of the spirits of men,” and it is his business to “heal the earth which the angels [i.e., the fallen angels] have defiled.” The archangels are referred to as numbering seven (e.g., Revelation 8:2 and Tobit 7:15) and are listed in 1 Enoch 1:20 as Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel. Raphael is reckoned among the saints in both Eastern and Western churches, his feast day being October 24. His counterpart in Islam is Isrāfīl.

Raphael, sculpture on the Roman Bridge, Córdoba, Spain.

Stéphanie De Nadai

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